WD-40: The Flash Drive Florence Nightingale

We have all had one of those moments where we forget to empty our pockets before we toss our clothes into the wash. At one point or the other, many of us end up washing our wallets, car keys, or cell phones. More than a few people have washed their flash drives as well. You first instinct after finding your flash drive in the wash may be to curse and toss it in the trash. You might want to hold off throwing it away though.

Before you throw the drive away, James Fallows from Altantic Monthly figures you might be able to save the drive, and the data on it with the help of WD-40. What you need to do is pry the USB case open so the components can dry for at least 24 hours. Then you need to spray the internal components with WD-40 to keep them from rusting. This little trick just might save your data, though it will make for a smelly drive for sure. We think the WD40 trick is kinda pointless as nearly every report we received so far suggests even thumbdrives that had been completely submerged had no problems working again after letting them dry for a day or two. After that however, you should really get the data off it and retire it.